Trump CALLS OUT Feinstein over possible ‘ILLEGAL’ release of Fusion GPS transcript
(National Sentinel) Scandalous: On Thursday President Donald J. Trump criticized Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California for “possibly illegally” releasing the transcript of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson.
Earlier in the week Feinstein claimed that she was pressured to release the transcript, but then backtracked, suggesting that a “bad cold” affected her judgement.
In August, congressional investigators interviewed Simpson about his firm’s role in the creation of the so-called “Trump dossier.” The firm hired former British spy Christopher Steele to compile the dossier, in which he used Russian sources.
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, along with the Democratic National Committee, financed a major portion of the dossier.
Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee pushed back against Feinstein’s release of the transcripts, which they had sought to block.
“It’s totally confounding that Senator Feinstein would unilaterally release a transcript of a witness interview in the middle of an ongoing investigation. Her decision was made without consulting Chairman [Chuck] Grassley [R-Iowa],” reported Fox News’ Chad Pergram.
“The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice,” Feinstein said in a statement at the time the transcript release. “The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public.”
Her actions were heavily criticized by Trump.
“Democrat Dianne Feinstein should never have released secret committee testimony to the public without authorization. Very disrespectful to committee members and possibly illegal. She blamed her poor decision on the fact she had a cold – a first!” he tweeted.
He added: “The fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein, who has on numerous occasions stated that collusion between Trump/Russia has not been found, would release testimony in such an underhanded and possibly illegal way, totally without authorization, is a disgrace. Must have tough Primary!”
According to the transcripts, Simpson said he was “stunned” when he learned about a meeting between Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and Donald Trump Jr., in Trump Tower in June 2017. He also said he learned about the meeting in news reports.
However, Simpson met with Veselnitskaya the morning of the Trump Tower meeting, and also afterward.
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